Records

Ave.

Ave.

0-0

Top 16

0-0

6-2

Regular Season

3-5

6-2

Overall

3-5

Referees

Crew Chief

GKONTAS, SPIROS, Greece

Referee

MAESTRE, NICOLA, France

Umpire

PAPAPETROU, PETROS, Greece

The Take

It is a critical game for Nizhny, which may be eliminated with a loss. Efes hopes to use its league-best defense to get a win which would secure a top-two finish in Group A. Nizhny is without Taylor Rochestie, the Euroleague's scoring leader, so Dmitriy Khvostov and Evgeny Baburin will share the point guard duties. Efes is deep at point guard with Dontaye Draper, Dogus Balbay and Donnie McGrath, in what could be the biggest key to this game. Tarence Kinsey and Semen Antonov will see most of the playing time at the wings for the guests. Antonov will not have it easy against Stratos Perperoglou, while Kinsey must use his experience against Matt Janning and Furkan Korkmaz. Nenad Krstic is still unavailable, so Dario Saric, Stephane Lasme and Milko Bjelica will see most of the playing time around the baskets. Art Parakhouski, Trey Thompkins and Vladimir Ivlev must try to dominate in the paint and prevent Saric from playing one-on-one. Efes is the favourite, but Nizhny plays to stay alive and will be as dangerous as ever.

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Euroleague.net

Game Notes

Anadolu Efes Istanbul
Efes boasts the top-ranked defense in the league with just 67.6 points allowed per game. It is the only team to have forced more turnovers (107) than it has allowed assists (94).
Coach Ivkovic has used 10 different players in his starting lineups so far this season; Stratos Perperoglou is the only player to have started every game.
Stephane Lasme has recorded at least 2 blocks in six consecutive Euroleague games; Lasme is second in the league blocks with 1.8 per game.
Milko Bjelica is 11 of 17 from downtown over the last five games.

Nizhny Novgorod
Coach Bagatskis has used 10 different players in his starting lineups so far this season; Semen Antonov is the only player to have started every game.
Tarence Kinsey spent the 2011-12 season with Anadolu Efes. He was a teammate there of current Efes players Cenk Akyol and Dogus Balbay.
Kinsey has recorded at least 1 steal in 21 consecutive Euroleague games.
Kinsey is tied for the Euroleague lead this season with 2.5 steals per game.
Taylor Rochestie leads the Euroleague in scoring this season with 20 points per game.
Rochestie has scored in double figures and made at least 1 three-pointer in each of the last eight games.
Rochestie has made 11 consecutive free throws in Euroleague games.
Rochestie was a teammate of Anadolu Efes forward Milko Bjelica during the 2012-13 season at Laboral Kutxa Vitoria.
Semen Antonov has made at least 1 three-pointer in six straight Euroleague games.
Evgeny Baburin has recorded at least 1 steal in five straight Euroleague games.

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Euroleague.net

Quotes Head Coaches

IVKOVIC, DUSAN

Anadolu Efes Istanbul

"Now, this season in Euroleague so many surprises occured until now. We are going to play the last two games of the regular season. We are already in the Top 16, so we have top be ready for that also. Now we are not looking at which position we finish the regular season. The Top 16 is very important. On the ninth game we will play against Nizhny Novgorod. They are a good team. I think one of their best players, Taylor Rochestie, is not going to play. But they have many good players. We have to perform our best. We must be careful. We have to be prepared especially in defense and we expect one good game on Friday."

Players

BALBAY, DOGUS

Anadolu Efes Istanbul

"This will be the last home game of ours in the regular season. Although we previously have guaranteed to qualify for the Top 16, this game is important for us to prepare for the next stages. Also with a victory we can imporve ourselves and gain the habit of winning. We must go on preparing for the game and with the great support of our fans we will be on court to win."

Nizhny Novgorod stays alive with win at Efes

Nizhny Novgorod kept its Top 16 chances alive with a 61-65 road win at Anadolu Efes Istanbul on Friday. After Dario Saric put Efes ahead from the line, Dimitriy Khvostov nailed a pair of clutch three-pointer to win the game for the Turkish Airlines Euroleague debutants. Nizhny improved to 4-5 in Group A and hosts Unics Kazan next week knowing a win will propel it into the next stage. Efes dropped to 6-3. It was an impressive outing for the visitors, who were without injured guard and league-leading scorer Taylor Rochestie. Khvostov and Trey Thompkins led the winners with 14 points apiece. Thompkins also grabbed 8 rebounds. Evgeny Baburin scored 13 and Tarence Kinsey added 10. Stephane Lasme paced Efes with 15 points and 7 rebounds, Saric posted 11 and 7 and Milko Bjelica finished with 10 points. Before the game Saric was honored with a small on-court ceremony in which he was presented with his trophy as bwin MVP for November.

The big guys scored first with Lasme opening the account for Efes and Art Parakhouski doing the same for the visitors. Bjelica buried a three for the home team. Lasme blocked a shot on defense and Matt Janning banked in a runner at the other. Janning found Lasme for a slam and the big man followed that with a basket-plus foul for a 12-2 advantage midway through the first quarter. Kinsey turned things around for the visitors with a jumper, a steal and a breakaway foul drawn from Dontaye Draper. He made the resulting free throws and added a jumper to close the gap to 4. Thompkins scored inside and then got a lucky roll on a short jumper that tied that game at 12-12. Thompkins gave the visitors their first lead with a long jumper. Furkan Kurkmaz ended a four and a half minute scoring drought for Efes with a triple, but Baburin matched him at the other end. Bjelica canned his second three to make it 18-17 after 10 minutes.

Second quarter: Baburin’s buzzer-beater puts visitors on top

Parakhouski’s slam and foul put the visitors ahead, but Saric tied the game at 20-20 with his first basket. Khvostov pulled up for a baseline jumper to put Nizhny on top once more. Saric passed to Lasme underneath, who was credited with a basket after goaltending. Janning missed twice from the line and Khvostov capitalized with a three-point play to put Nizhny up 23-25. After free throws made – and several missed – at both ends, Okben Ulubay tied the game at 26-26 with a basket on the offensive glass. Draper beat the 24-second clock with a three and Saric blocked a shot at one end and assisted Draper for a layup to the other. Thompkins banked in a shot in the low post and tied the game at 31-31 with a three-pointer. After Ulubay split free throws, Baburin scored a three and was fouled to give the visitors a 32-35 halftime advantage.

Third quarter: Nizhny keeps making shots to keep slim lead

Donnie McGrath’s jumper provided the first basket of the second half. Bjelica went through Thompkins for a basket-plus-foul and a 2-point edge. Parakhouski tied that game at 37-37. The Nizhny center blocked another shot and the pushed his team ahead from the line. Osman split free throws to put the hosts up by 1. Khvostov connected from downtown to make it 39-41 midway through the quarter. After a timeout Baburin struck from behind the arc again. Saric kept the hosts close with a basket in the paint. Levan Patsatsia picked up a loose ball and drove for a layup plus foul. Saric remained Efes’s go-to-guy with a jumper and Deniz Kilicli did the same to bring his team within 1. A Patsatsia layup kept Nizhny ahead and Kinsey ended the quarter with a floater off the glass for a 45-50 lead.

Fourth quarter: Clutch shooting from Khvostov clinches victory

Vladimir Ivlev silenced the Efes crowd with a layup. After Lasme split free throws, Thompkins drove the lane for a layup and an 8-point lead. Janning answered with a three and Lasme drove for a layup to bring Efes within 51-54. Kinsey drove for a tough layup only to see teenager Korkmaz drain a triple to get within 2. Baburin buried a three off an inbounds play to give Efes some breathing room. Lasme scored inside off a feed from Saric, who next followed his own miss to close the gap to 58-59. Thomkins fouled out with 2:16 remaining and Saric sank the resulting free throws for a 60-59 Efes edge – its first lead of quarter. Khvostov replied with a clutch three. Saric got to the line and brought Efes within 1. Osman collided with Saric and went down in pain. Khvosotv buried a clutch three with 9 seconds left to make it a two-possession game at 61-65, essentially sealing the victory.

Head Coaches

IVKOVIC, DUSAN

Anadolu Efes Istanbul

"It was a bad day for us. We were controlling the game until 12-2. But then we lost the control. If you miss that many free throws and turn the ball over that much, even if you are at home, you cannot get what you want. We were not professionals tonight. We missed some basic things to do in the game. We didn't desire enough to win. We moved into Top 16. But we still have so many things to learn. We are suffering from injuries. Stratos Perperoglu had an injury and Dogus Balbay was sick. But those were not the reasons for our loss."

BAGATSKIS, AINARS

Nizhny Novgorod

"It was a game that we had to win to stay alive. Our plan was based on good defense all through the game. My players did a great job based on our plan. We fought all during the game. And we also did good things on offense, too. We managed to hit the big shots in crunch time and deserved to win. It's good to stay alive for the Top 16. And we will try to fight for our chance until the end."

Players

LASME, STEPHANE

Anadolu Efes Istanbul

"We were expecting a very tough game from Nizhny Novgorod. And that is what happened. They pushed the game really hard and we weren't able to resist. Anyway we still have reason to win next week against Real Madrid on the road."

THOMPKINS, TREY

Nizhny Novgorod

"This is a great win. We won against a great team under a great coach. We did a great job. But we haven't gained anything yet. We gotta win next week."